Snow blower mods

[roscoemi 245]

I have seen references to putting a piece of rubber to the bottom of the augers in the center to help prevent clogging, but cannot find anything in a search. Has anybody done this and what material was used? Did it really help?  My blower is apart right now and it would be easy to do if it works.

[cheesegrader 433]

I've seen it described as a Cleveland modification or a Cleveland auger.

I have seen a few in action, and the throw distance almost doubles.

[Jake Kuhn 1,579]

I remember seeing a thread that duke did it....forget what it was called.

[cheesegrader 433]

Up here in dairy farm country, people make them out of the 1/8" thick rubberized belts used in grain handling implements.

Fleet Farm has them, and I bet they are available at TSC.

Three drill holes, sandwich the belt piece between the auger and a rectangular metal backing plate.

I could hit my neighbor's roof with the two-stage on my 520 if I put them on!

Look on youtube under snowblower modification.

[dbartlett1958 99]

Roscoemi,

 

Here is how I did mine.

 

[roscoemi 245]

I'm gonna find some material and give it a shot.

[Hydro 131]

I remember seeing a thread that duke did it....forget what it was called.

I think it was a sweeper kit or something like that he bought or had made up.  I also remember a comment about balancing them in other words doing exactly the same thing the same way for each rubber mount.

[Rick_in_CT 156]

If you are referring to adding rubber strips to tighten up the gap between the impeller blades and the blower housing, I purchased the kit from this site:  http://smllengns.tripod.com/

 

I have it installed on my 44" two stage, and it works great.  This blower worked great before the kit, but now it is even better.  I highly recommend it.  I have read threads where people have made them by cutting up rubber matts that are used in horse stalls, or cutting up very heavy rubber belting.  There are you tube videos of people doing the installation.  Do a search on line using the phrase "Clarence's impeller kit" or something similar and you will find more information.

 

The purpose of the kit is to increase the efficiency of the fan, which in turn will throw the snow further.  Your thread states that you are looking to stop clogging, will this do that?  My two stage does not clog all that often, but I do sand and repaint the chute every year.  You want as smooth a surface as possible to prevent snow from sticking.  Rusty metal will slow down the movement of the snow.  I can say that the addition of the rubber has not had any negative effect.  It has never caused any binding or jamming of the auger.  I have 550 feet of driveway to clear, and my blower must perform.  Here is a picture of the blower from the blizzard of 2013 where I have just cleared the 550 feet of driveway and made it to the street.  The snow was about 40" deep all the way up the driveway, and at the road the snow bank was about 5 feet high.  I burned some gas that day!  Oh yeah, I enjoy snow blowing!!